Press Release courtesy of Charlotte Athletics
Charlotte volleyball travels to FIU on Friday before wrapping up Conference USA weekend #4 at Middle Tennessee on Sunday afternoon.
Charlotte (16-5, 3-2 C-USA) heads back on the C-USA road after scoring a 3-1 win over UTEP at home last Friday night. Janell Sparks led with 19 kills and a .321 hitting night while Sydney Rowan earned her second freshman of the week award after an 18-kill performance hitting .500 in the match. The 49ers rolled in sets one and two 25-10, 25-11, slipped up in a 25-23 loss in the third before clinching the match 25-13. As a team, Charlotte hit .375 on the night and out-blocked the Miners 14-3.
As they have all year, the 49ers continue to lead the country in blocking with 245.5 total blocks as a team. Tatyana Thomas leads the league and stands fifth in the nation at 1.62 blocks/set. Thomas’ 97 blocks also leads C-USA and is 11th nationwide while Jocelyn Stoner’s 90 and Jannelle Curtiss’ 71 are second and fourth among C-USA opponents. Yumi Garcia has 429 digs to lead the league, seventh nationwide, and needs just 31 digs to enter Charlotte’s top-ten list for digs in a single season.
FIU (2-10, 1-4) heads to Friday’s weekend-opener having dropped four-straight including Tuesday’s 3-0 decision vs. FGCU in a hurricane make-up match. Due to terrible weather situations this year incurred by FIU, the Panthers only have a dozen matches under their belt this season compared to Charlotte’s 21. Margherita Bianchin led with eight kills while Molly Feldmith added 13 assists.
Bianchin leads the Panthers with 127 kills on the year followed by Taija Thomas’ 121. One of FIU’s wins this season was a big one in the 3-1 road victory at rival Florida Atlantic back on September 29th.
Middle Tennessee (5-15, 1-5) opens the weekend at UTSA on Friday before returning home to face the Niners in their only scheduled regular season matchup this season. Last weekend, the Blue Raiders snapped a six-match losing streak with a five-set victory over Louisiana Tech on Friday before being swept by FAU on Sunday. The win over the Lady Techsters accounts for Middle Tennessee’s lone C-USA win to this point. Prior to the six-match skid, the Blue Raiders had won four-straight.
Regan Coughlin’s 180 kills on the year leads the team followed by Dora Peonia’s 169. Taylor Hammill leads with 610 assists on the year while Brienna Tankesley paces the defense with 219 digs.
First serve at FIU on Friday is set for 7:00 p.m. while the weekend finale in Murfreesboro goes off at 2:00 p.m. eastern. Live video/stats for both matches will be available at http://www.charlotte49ers.com.
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